Southwind City was enormous. The previous night, Jiang He had had someone drive him there, and they had driven for quite a while.
The light at night had been dim, making it impossible to see anything clearly. Only in daylight could he glimpse the strange scenes from his memories.
Metal rails crisscrossed through the air, with railcars shuttling along them. The closer he got to the city center, the taller the buildings on either side became, giving him the feeling of towering skyscrapers from his past life.
"What kind of world is this, anyway...?"
Even though the original owner's memories contained similar scenes, Su Chen could not help but marvel. He walked slowly through the streets, occasionally stopping people to ask for directions and confirm his location.
The closer he got to the region beneath the light source, the more prosperous it became.
There was even a toll between the outer city and the inner city. Su Chen did not have a single coin on him, but fortunately, presenting his transfer letter allowed him through.
The pedestrians' outfits were even more varied, as though time itself had gone haywire. He even spotted someone with a metal mechanical arm.
As he walked and asked questions, the various scenes that had existed only in the original owner's memories gradually became his own memories.
It was more than half a day later when he finally reached Southwind Academy, located in the northern district of Southwind Inner City. Its grayish-brown walls stretched far into the distance and stood three to four meters high.
The grand metal gates were carved with dense patterns and were tightly shut. Only the smaller gates on either side were open, with quite a few young people passing in and out.
He spotted Jiang He at once, standing beside the smaller gate on the left. She was simply too eye-catching: a gray teacher's skirt barely covered her knees, while a purple blouse outlined her alluring curves. She even wore gold-rimmed glasses.
Every passing student, even people on the street, cast glances her way.
Jiang He seemed long accustomed to it. Her face carried a trace of impatience as her gaze constantly swept the area.
Jiang He noticed Su Chen immediately and strode toward him with a seductive sway.
"Why are you only getting here now?" Her expression was unpleasant. She had waited here for most of the day and had thought something had happened.
"It was too far away. Couldn't be helped."
"You didn't take the elevated railcar?" She frowned.
"No money." Su Chen was frank.
Jiang He fell silent, then turned around. "Follow me."
Their exchange attracted plenty of attention. People whispered among themselves, and some male students could not help but look at Su Chen with envy and jealousy.
Jiang He was a fairly well-known teacher at the academy. Rumor had it that quite a few good-looking students had engaged in intimate exchanges with her, enough to set one's imagination running wild.
After entering the academy, the attention they received became even more obvious. Some people even took out devices and secretly aimed them at the two of them.
Southwind Academy was not small either. It took them some time to reach the academic affairs building.
"A transfer student?" The person in charge of the Academic Affairs Office was a middle-aged woman.
Her voice drew the attention of several middle-aged men in the office. Their gazes toward Su Chen had already carried a certain implication, but now they turned into naked jealousy.
"Yes, Teacher Zhao. Hurry up." Jiang He urged, then added, "Oh, remember to arrange a dormitory for him."
Su Chen added, "Preferably a private dormitory."
Teacher Zhao glanced at Su Chen's face and secretly shook her head as she put away the transfer letter.
She operated an instrument that projected a grayish-yellow virtual screen before her. "Identity code."
Drawing on his memories, Su Chen recited a string of characters, and his information loaded onto the virtual screen.
"A refugee?" Teacher Zhao's eyes widened.
The gazes gathering around them grew even more astonished, and the looks directed at Jiang He became strange as well.
"Hurry up." Jiang He sounded impatient. She clearly held some status.
The other woman did not dare delay and quickly operated the device, transferring his information into Southwind Academy's records.
"All right. First-year Mysticism. You'll attend classes with her directly. Your dormitory is Room 301, Building 13, District B. Tuition, accommodation, and miscellaneous fees come to a total of 1,246 gold..."
Teacher Zhao looked up at Su Chen, who looked at Jiang He.
Jiang He's face darkened. "I know. I'll pay for him later."
"Mm, then... huh?" Teacher Zhao's expression suddenly changed. In surprise, she said, "Why does he have to leave the city in half a month?"
"Half a month?" Jiang He was startled as well. She looked at Su Chen. "Didn't you say there were still three or four months?"
"In my memories, it was three or four months." Su Chen recalled that the original owner had remembered this matter very clearly. He should not have gotten it wrong.
Jiang He's expression shifted. "I understand."
"Your student ID..." Teacher Zhao took out a gilded card from a device beside her. It bore Su Chen's photograph.
"You'll need it for most things in the academy."
The two left one after the other, and discussion inevitably broke out in the office.
"Why is she playing the raising-a-boyfriend game now? She even found a refugee. Tsk, tsk... She's even paying his tuition..."
"Who knows? Maybe the kid has some special talent and managed to sweet-talk her into being happy..."
"But isn't it a little late for him to enroll now? He has to leave the city in half a month. Even if he's a transfer student and only needs to patrol near the city, it's not like there's no danger..."
"Someone changed your records..." Jiang He said quietly in the corridor.
"You can't change them back?" Su Chen asked.
"If your records were still with the Refugee Bureau, I could find someone to change them. But now that they've been entered into Southwind Academy's system, it's troublesome..." Jiang He was clearly irritated. "They acted last night. They moved fast."
"He probably wants to use you to figure out what happened last night."
"Why haven't you killed him yet?" Su Chen asked, knowing whom she meant.
"There's something strange about this. He isn't the only one causing trouble behind the scenes. We want to drag them all out, and he's not easy to deal with either..." Jiang He spoke vaguely, then continued,
"Still, you're already a Strongman, so there won't be much danger. Everything that needed arranging has been arranged. I'm going to find out who changed your records. Perhaps that can be a breakthrough."
She looked rather excited. Su Chen's usefulness had already begun to show.
After leaving the building, Jiang He hurried away. Su Chen looked around, then stopped a student. "Excuse me, where's our school library?"
Seeing the student ID in Su Chen's hand, the other student's attitude noticeably softened, and he pointed him in a general direction.
After taking two steps, Su Chen suddenly stopped and said wistfully, "Forgot to ask her for money."
Shaking his head, he headed for the library. He needed to understand some things as soon as possible.
The artificial light source hanging over all of Southwind City gradually shifted from blazing white to grayish-yellow.
On the fourth floor of Southwind City Library, Su Chen let out a long breath and twisted his stiff neck, producing a series of crackling sounds. He closed the Basic Notes on Occupations in his hands and returned it to its place.
He had crammed a great deal of basic information that even the original owner had lacked, such as occupational sequences.
Broadly speaking, they could be divided into three categories: physical, spiritual, and miscellaneous.
Physical occupations strengthened the body and emphasized placing great power in oneself.
Spiritual occupations focused on the mind and drew upon mysterious, unfathomable forces from the outside world.
Yet the two were not clearly distinct. According to the book's vague explanations, some occupations could combine both physical and spiritual aspects.
These classifications were merely one method of distinction. The miscellaneous category was more peculiar; Rope Master, for instance, belonged to a miscellaneous occupation.
The book also gave some ordinary examples. A cartographer could turn another person's description, or even what they imagined in their mind, directly into a real blueprint.
Or an architect, who could coordinate construction materials and erect large structures within a short period of time.
Many miscellaneous occupations were spread throughout every trade and profession.
Before you continue